Chapter 8 - A Refreshing Swim
That evening, all in the camp were getting mightily tied of the smell of burning, tired of the new soreness in their eyes, and some of them had developed a dry cough in defence to the intrusive smoke that clogged nose and throat. Annabelle was not even hungry that evening, which was unusual for her. She felt too ill altogether. And to make everything worse, they had not travelled far that day, restricted to taking it easy for their horses sake. Though it left them rested for a fast ride on the morrow, probably their last day before they reached Minas Tirith, even so nobody was in particularly good spirits that evening, and no one felt like hunting either for fresh meat. Except Legolas, of course.
Legolas seemed wholly unaffected by the acrid haze. He had not coughed or showed any sign of distress all day. Walking around camp, he also seemed fresh as a daisy with skin looking clean and his elven clothing seemingly smoke and grime proofed. After such an easy ride he also seemed to have energy left to burn, whilst all others setting up camp were grumpy, grimy and out of sorts. Annabelle was having trouble undoing the biggest buckle on Bluestar's saddle, and was quietly tugging on it and swearing under her breath when Legolas sidled up beside her.
"Would you like a hand?" he offered good-naturedly. Annabelle jumped.
"Gosh, you're quiet. You gave me a fright."
"I am sorry. Here, you are tugging at it all wrong." He stilled her hands with his own, making a slight 'tsk' noise in his throat. "Gently does it, see, not so impatient Aniel, and it comes right off."
His hands gently but firmly guided hers, and she stood there with him behind her, arms reaching around her, and let him deftly make short work of the saddle buckles. She sighed with relief. He came around her then and lifted the saddle all the way off and placed it on the branch of a tree. Strangely, her hands were shaking ever so slightly after his help. She smiled her thank you to him, feeling too weary to speak.
"You are quite dirty," he pointed out, as if noticing for the first time.
"Yes, I feel like crap."
He hooted at her description of herself. Slyly he said, "You know, the Anduin is just through those trees. It looks a nice spot to swim in." Annabelle looked over to where he pointed, noticing many of the men stripping off most of their clothes and diving through the trees.
"I think I could do with a swim, quite honestly," she answered, her smile crooked.
"Well, come on then, what are you waiting for?" the elf said, mischievously. He began to run towards the water, looking back for her to follow. Clearly he was intending to take a dip himself.
For the briefest moment, Annabelle wondered if such a thing was proper for her to do, considering the company. She gave a comforting word to Bluestar, patting her on the rump to let her know she could wander off to graze. She began racing after the other dirty, sooted men, yipping out loud as she went. Where her ladylike manner had evaporated too she couldn't tell, but if she could get clean and refreshed, then propriety really wasn't on the top of her list in that moment.
The water was delicious and twenty or so bobbing heads couldn't be wrong. The men were all splashing each other wildly and bombing into a deep spot from the river's edge, Aragorn amongst them. She actually fancied he had been the first to bomb. But Legolas refrained from that and swam close by to her so he could chat. They hadn't spoken much all day.
While Annabelle had chosen to swim with her tunic on, having a spare one in her bag, she had at least removed her riding trousers behind the cover of a large tree. Strangely, this had not gone unnoticed by Legolas. When she came out from behind the tree, she had fancied Legolas taking a double, then a tripple take of her, but his smile had reassured her, and her tunic did reach half way down her thighs. That was modest enough for her, considering everything else. He had then given her a hand into the water all ladylike, which she had blushed at, but once she was in, had proceeded to tug her under up to her neck. Splashing him had no effect at all, he simply kept laughing at her no matter what she did.
Finally he seemed like he was going to be well behaved for a bit, and they settled down wading together, floating further out but not too far to be caught in the Anduin's strong current.
"This is so nice," said Annabelle, sighing.
"You have little smudges on your face," said Legolas. He swam closer and tried to wipe them off for her. Satisfied, he swam away again, diving under briefly so that his long, blonde tresses became completely soaked. Like the other men, he wore scant little, and his chest was bare altogether.
"Ah, if only the wind would just blow that way," the girl said indicating.
"Smoke really does affect humans, doesn't it?" said Legolas.
"Well, yes!" she laughed. "It's difficult to put up with it all of the day long." Her nose wrinkled.
"I was thinking…." He said, not revealing more. Bobbing closer to her now, she stared at the little drop of water hanging from his nose and tried not to smirk.
She splashed him eventually to try to remove the drop, but instead got new drops hanging precariously from his eyelashes. "You were thinking….?" She prompted.
"Your water trick," said Legolas.
"Hmm, what about it?"
"Does it work with, say….weather?"
"What on earth do you mean, Legolas?"
He gestured to the sky. "Does it work on water up there?"
Her face took on a focus of concentration. "Clouds? Rain you mean?"
He nodded.
"Well, I don't know. I don't usually do anything so grand. I have to hold the water when I program it."
"What about the emissaries? You said that you work with the emissaries of the Valar. They could touch it."
"What are you getting at?"
"Think Aniel," he said seriously. "Water means rain. What does rain do? Puts out fire!"
Her mouth formed a perfect O shape and she gaped at him. "Well?" he implored. "Can you do it?"
"Legolas, that is a big ask," she said, not wanting to put him off entirely. She wasn't sure such a thing could be done, but then again, she had never tried.
"Some wild tribes dance to produce rain," pointed out Legolas. "Surely they do it with a technique. There is a way, I know it!"
"You're very passionate Legolas, but I am not sure."
"We will do it after we've swam. You and I, Aniel. I am positive there is a way to make the Valar make it rain."
The light in his eyes made it clear that his mind was made up, and who was Annabelle to argue? It was true that wild tribes of men did perform rain ceremonies, surely that could not be purely superstition. A wizard of some kind could have instilled it into the tribe at one time. Every tribe had a shaman. How could she know if it could be done or not if she never tried?
"Okay Legolas, we'll try," she said to him.
"I know it will work. Together, we will make it work." Happy now with that, he surprised her with a swift explosion of splashes that was designed to make her splutter, cough and squeal in indignation. It worked. It seemed he was good at getting his own way, this royal elf prince.
A/N: I took so long to update this due to receiving no reviews last time. So if you guys want more...please let me know and review, it makes all the difference!